With films like Underwater, Color Out Of Space, and Sea Fever, horror films with Lovecraftian undertones have found an interesting moment of time to experience a resurgence considering how these films have come out in the middle of our global pandemic. The anxieties that come with facing the unknown, illnesses that we are woefully unequipped for, and the struggle to stay sane while being stuck on one location just feels perfect for our times. A new and worthy addition to that bunch I previously mentioned is the new Shudder original, The Beach House.
In the film, we follow a young couple – Emily (Liana Liberato) and Randall (Noah Le Gros), whose relationship appears to be in the rocky stages. In an effort to bring that special spark back, they decide to go to a beach house owned by Randall’s dad. However, they soon find out that some family friends are already there, an older couple – Mitch (Jake Weber) and Jane (Maryann Nagel). They decide to make the most of it, and try to have fun, even sharing an edible with the older couple. But things very quickly take a drastic turn for the strange when changes in their environment seem to lead to a bizarre infection.
The film is clearly made with modest ambitions. There’s only a couple locations, a handful of characters, and our knowledge and grasp of the situation never strays far from what our characters know and see. It’s fairly minimalist in that regard, but in doing so, writer/director, Jeffrey A. Brown, who is making his directorial debut here, shows that he doesn’t let a minimal budget get in the way of telling a story in a creative and engaging way. Brown gives the film a strong sense of urgency with its handheld camera work, and naturalistic look, which later contrasts the otherworldly things our characters see.
The Beach House is largely a slow burn, spending a significant chunk of the first 50 minutes or so being a sort of awkward relationship drama that takes a sudden turn to the ethereal and apocalyptic. There aren’t many big scares, but Brown keeps an evocative and eerie mood sustained for the whole film, punctuated by moments of gore, which are all appropriately gnarly. One moment where Emily has to pull something out of her foot is going to be a bad time for anyone with a low tolerance for gore and a sensitive stomach.
The performances are all perfectly solid, if not particularly demanding. Liberato serves as the real lead of the film, and that is reflected in the film with her being the most well rounded of the bunch. She’s a student, she’s an aspiring astrobiologist, she is ambitious and curious of the world around her, and her place in it. Liberato captures these qualities very well, as well as her complicated dynamic with Noah Le Gros’ character, and easily carries the film.
I quite enjoyed The Beach House, but I didn’t necessarily loved it. It’s not so much because it does something particularly poorly, but it didn’t really have enough meat on its bones. It’s just a bit too minimal of a genre exercise, and while it does it well, it doesn’t do a lot to create a lasting impression. That of course doesn’t diminish the good work put in by Jeffrey A. Brown, who shows a lot of promise as a horror director, being able to make a lot with very little, and I hope both he and Liana Liberato get more opportunities in the future. If you are yearning for a moody, bleak, creepy, and contained horror film with Lovecraftian flourishes, this will definitely scratch that specific itch. And if you already have a Shudder subscription, this is only gonna cost 88 minutes of your time.